Prior hearing for prosecution sanction under the Cooperative Societies Act applies only to State Government sanction, not Registrar sanction.

Section 149(3) of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961 does not require a prior hearing to the accused before sanction for prosecution is granted by the Registrar. The statutory hearing requirement is confined to the sanction contemplated in the first part of the provision, which concerns sanction by the State Government for offences under Section 147(1)(c). Extending that requirement to the Registrar would add words to plain statutory language and produce an unworkable scheme, because the hearing and sanction would rest with different authorities. The High Court's contrary direction was therefore unsustainable.

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Issues: Whether Section 149(3) of the Gujarat Cooperative Societies Act, 1961 requires a prior hearing to the accused before sanction for prosecution can be granted for offences for which the Registrar is the sanctioning authority.

Analysis: The provision distinguishes between prosecutions requiring sanction of the State Government and those requiring sanction of the Registrar. The hearing requirement in the latter part of the sub-section is linked to the sanction spoken of in the first part, which concerns sanction by the State Government for offences under Section 147(1)(c). A construction extending the hearing requirement to sanctions to be granted by the Registrar would require reading words into the statute, which is impermissible when the language is plain. Such an interpretation would also create an unworkable scheme, because the hearing would be conducted by one authority while the sanction decision would lie with another.

Conclusion: The prior-hearing requirement does not apply to sanction for prosecution where the Registrar is the sanctioning authority, and the High Court's contrary direction was unsustainable.

Ratio Decidendi: A court cannot add words to a clear statutory provision, and the hearing requirement under Section 149(3) applies only to the category of sanction expressly contemplated by that language.

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